The Wizard of OZ?
by Midori-chan
Summary: A spin-off of the Wizard of OZ -- using Gundam Wing characters! X3 Starring Quatre as Dorothy, he takes a trip to the magical land of OZ, only to meet up with various humorous situations and characters! Joint-fic done by Noko-chan and I.


The Wizard of...Oz?

Becky's Color!!

Chelsea's Color!!

Silence filled the room of Quatre Raberba Winner , all save for the soft tapping of padded fingers upon a keyboard. The young boy shook golden strands from his reflective blue eyes. Filing, filing, filing… It's what he had been up to for the past hour, or more. A smile spread across his lips; he knew it needed to be done nonetheless.

Quatre's eyes widened as his eyes caught sight of a file he didn't recognize. Reading further down, he realized the subject of the file, which startled him. A group from the Rommafellar foundation had been traveling around in search for his Gundam.

Hearing Rashid's voice outside his door, Quatre paused in his reading. "Yes," he replied, pushing his demanding thoughts at bay.

Rashid opened the door and peered inside. "dinner will be ready in thirty minutes." With a second thought, he added, "Is everything alright?"

"Yes," Quatre replied with a smile. "I was just reading a new document so I could properly file it."

"It isn't anything troubling you, is it?" Concerned eyes.

Quatre looked into the genuinely concerned eyes. He was putting Rashid, and all of the other Maganac men, in danger. Brightening his eyes and smiling once again, Quatre shook his head. Rashid returned the smile and closed the door.

Quatre turned his face back to the computer. "I can't stay here."

***

He suddenly stood, and gazing over through a window of the spacious room at the lucid sky above, sighed. Soon it would be filled with gunfire and hot smoke, and the ground, stained with blood. He tore his eyes away from the tranquil view. How was he going to get out of here? His eyes fell upon a small cat-boy silently sleeping in the corner of the room.

"Hee-chan…" the blonde boy softly called. When the chocolate-haired cat would not wake, he hissed a little louder, "Hee-CHAN!"

Steel cobalt eyes opened, and the thing dubbed "Hee-chan" omitted a low purr. "Hn," it said.

"Hee-chan, how're we going to get out of here? I need to save my family!" Quatre hastily pleaded. His pale hands were clasped together in desperation.

Though it obviously resented the name Hee-chan, the cat-boy stretched, and meandered its way over to the Winner heir, as it purred in the same 'hn'-like tone. As it stood up to its full height (about 2 feet tall), a dark brown tail switched furtively. "Ninmu ryoukai," : it said, and shoved its paw into a spandex pocket, and began to search for something.

Quatre's blue-green eyes clouded with puzzlement. "Hee-chan, what are you…?"

A clawed hand was raised, signaling Quatre to shut his mouth. Out of his infamous Spandex Space, Hee-chan pulled a small detonator. He sniffed the detonator curiously, and then motioned for the Sandrock pilot to get under his desk. Quatre's eyes widened in return to the gesture. "Hee-chan!! You're… you're not going to blow… up something?! This is my family's house! If…"

The poor boy was interrupted by a loud explosion, recreated here by this onomatopoeia:

KKKKKAAAAAAAABBBBOOOOOOOOOOOOOOOOOOMMMMMMMMMMM~~~~!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!  
  


Quatre yelped loudly and ducked under his mahogany desk as random files and papers whizzed by his head, intermixed with debris. When the smoke finally cleared, Quatre could be seen shaking under the battered desk. Blue-green eyes sought out the lone cat-boy, who was standing with a smirk on his face and not a scratch to be seen on his Japanese body. "Ninmu… Kanryo!" : he finished. He dropped the detonator and smiled into the gaping mouth of the hole he'd just blown into the side of the room Quatre was in.

"…If anything happens to this house I have to pay for it," Quatre finished the statement miserably.

Hee-chan simply shrugged, and jumped out of the window.

"Hee-chan, wait!!" the blonde boy called, and ran after his beloved pet.

***

Quatre ran, breathless, in pursuit of the cat-boy. The spandex-clad neko had taken him to goodness knows where. The house had been lost to the ravenous horizon ages ago. At least they were ages to Quatre.

"Hee-chan!" The boy begged, still running after the cat. "Please, you can't run forever~!"

Ice-cold eyes looked back into warm sapphire ones surrounded by flailing arms. He slowed his pace down, lifting an eyebrow at the young boy behind him. Quatre stopped, hands on knees, gasping for breath. "Well, maybe you can,… but I can't."

Hee-chan paused, turning around on nimble feet and cocking his ears irritably at Quatre. Unable to catch his breath, Quatre stood for a good five minutes with his hand in the air as his shoulders rose and fell with each breath. When the burning in his chest finally calmed down, he spoke again. "Don't look at me like that…" *pant, pant* "…It's not fair~!"

Purring another "Hn", Hee-chan lifted a paw to lick – pretending to be indifferent. He had only gotten a good two licks out when the neko was snatched up by a hand that made his fur stand on-end.

Quatre looked up as he heard an audible scowl from Hee-chan. _I didn't even know he could make that noise_, the boy thought. And he saw… "Lady Une?!"

Sure enough, there stood a woman clothed in white pants and a maroon jacket. Her glasses flashed in the fading sunlight as she smirked down at Quatre. "I have plaaaans for this… cat." – drawing out the word "plans" and shortening the word "cat" like a true villain would.

"You put Hee-chan down~!" Quatre demanded with a stamp of his foot.

Lady Une raised an eyebrow. "Or..?"

"Or else… or else…" Blue eyes wavered, threatening to drop big crocodile tears on the desert ground. With another stamp of the other foot, Quatre exclaimed, "Hee-chan: Relena Maneuver, NOW~!!!"

With that, the cat bit, clawed, hissed, scratched,… all but devoured Une. Leaping from her arms, Hee-chan led Quatre on another wild goose-chase straight for…

"A sandstorm!" Quatre gasped, wide-eyed. His expression fell into a more serious, determined one as he realized that his Gundam was in that sandstorm. Sand blew every-which way, blinding Quatre so he could no longer follow Hee-chan. The young boy called out to his pet. In return, Hee-chan sent out calls to Quatre. Following the sound of the noise, Quatre eventually found his Gundam.

A whisper passed from his lip. "Sandrock." He climbed upwards, bracing here and there against the angry wind. He finally reached the cockpit where Hee-chan was. Closing the door, he sat in the seat and began to maneuver the machine against the storm, but his already weakened arms couldn't last long against the strength.

The wind knocked Sandrock off its feet, sending it tumbling to the ground. Quatre saw a blinding white light as pain seeped into his head. "Hee… -chan…??" was all he could manage before unconsciousness engulfed the young boy.

The cat flattened his ears, pushing his nose against his owner's still cheek. With narrowed eyes looking out towards the storm, only one thought passed through Hee-chan's head… _"Now who's going to make my dinner?"_

_***_

"Nnngghhh…"

With a soft moan, blue-green eyes flickered open. When Quatre opened his luminous eyes, a fifteen-year old, fudge-haired boy was sitting in his lap. The boy turned his dark blue eyes to face the Sandrock pilot, and Quatre's initial reaction was shock. "What? Wh-Who ARE you?" he sputtered. The boy shifted to Quatre's left leg, and a dark brown tail was visible, as well as chocolate ears. "HEE-CHAN?!?" Quatre squeaked, as his sparkling eyes widened. "It's Heero Yuy," the now grown up cat-boy sniffed. "… and I'm glad you woke up! Now someone can feed me dinner!"

Another wide-eyed stare from the blonde boy.

"Um… um… you… you talk?! More than just 'Ninmu… whatever' and 'hn'?!?!"

"Heero" sweatdropped. "I could… always talk. I just never was grown up." An uncomfortable silence followed, until Quatre spoke up. "Ummm… yes. Well! Let's get out of Sandrock! I… I hope we're not too late to save my family…" A worrisome storm blurred his eyes. Heero patted his head as he kicked open the door. "They'll be fine."

Suddenly, the two found themselves staring out into a vast expanse of candy-colored hills cut by a shiny, silver trail. The sky above was a light pink, and all around, there were trees of all hues: from a deep sky blue to a crimson red. Heero's cobalt blue eyes dilated. "I… there's COLOR!" he gasped. Quatre smiled nervously. "There always –was- color, before, Hee-chan. I guess… I guess you were just colorblind before. Maybe you're becoming more human than… cat."

A glare was directed in Quatre's direction, and Heero stated pointedly, "Hee-RO. Not Hee-CHAN."

Quatre recoiled a little, and apologized profusely as the cat-boy hopped from his leg to the ground below. "G-gomen nasai… Hee-ch… ro," the blue-green eyed boy stuttered, and clambered down off the mammoth Sandrock. When he stepped off, he nearly tread on a pair of long, frayed eyebrows snaking out from under Sandrock's right foot.

"Eep!" Quatre squealed, and jumped back from the tan eyebrow's reach. "Who is that?!?"

"That is the Wicked Witch of the East," a voice said from behind the blonde boy. He stared, and spun around to see a purple-haired woman, who was dressed in a violet dress and glittery fairy wings. Again, shock from Quatre's end. The purple-haired woman smiled. "My name is Lucrecia Noin, and I am the Good Witch of the North. You have just killed the Wicked Witch of the East."

"Oh no! I didn't want to do that!" poor Quatre cried. Heero, however, poked at the eyebrow cautiously. "…that's not the Wicked Witch of the East. That's Dorothy Catalonia. I would know those eyebrows everywhere."

"No, that's the Wicked Witch of the East, dear," Noin cooed with a magnanimous smile.

"Dorothy Catalonia."

"Wicked Witch of the East."

"Dorothy Catalonia."

"Wicked Witch of the East!"

"Dorothy Catalonia."

"LOOK, BUDDY, D'YOU WANNA GET HOME, OR NOT?!?" Noin yelled. Her face was flushed with rage.

Heero blinked, and finally, just shut up.

"There! Now… forget about the Witch of the East. Here's how you get home," the good witch laughed, smiling so Quatre cringed and Heero glared. "This is the land of OZ. In order to get home, you must put on these shoes…" the purple-clad woman grinned, and handed Quatre fluffy pink bunny slippers, which Heero promptly pounced on. "Heero! We need those to get home!" the Sandrock pilot protested.

"Oh. Gomen." Hero relinquished the slipper and allowed his master to slip the shoes on.

Quatre's face lit up. "It's okay."

Noin nodded. "Now! The second thing you must do is… follow the Gundanium road." She stepped upon the cold metal, which made a 'tink' sound. "Well! Your journey begins here. Have fun!" And then, she disappeared into the candy-colored hills.

***

Quatre checked the bump on the back of his head, wincing a bit. "I don't think we're on Earth anymore. Taking his hand away from his painful head, Quatre added, "Either that, or I've hit my head too hard…" With this much said, he plopped down on the Gundanium road and began to put on the bunny slippers.

Heero's tail twitched as he eyed the slippers. "You've obviously hit your head too hard. This has to be Earth." Pouncing the inanimate eyebrows, he added, "Or else she wouldn't be here." Heero turned his gaze sidelong to Quatre.

Quatre nodded and stood up, or at least tried to… His bunnied-feet slipped right out from underneath him, and the boy landed flat on his back with a resounding 'thud'.

"I-taaaaaaiiiiiiiiiii~~~!!!!!" whined the blonde-hair boy as a pain echoed through his head. Heero sweatdropped. Again, Quatre tried to stand… and again he fell… and Heero sweatdropped more… Again and again and again… Heero's head was getting heavy from sweatdrops…

"Hidooooiii~~~~!" Quatre accused the slippers. This time, he got up to his hands and knees, firmly planting them on the metal. First one foot and careful not to move it, Quatre placed the other foot securely nest to it. Slowly, ever so slowly, he stood… and surprisingly remained standing.

"Waii~!" Quatre squealed.

"'bout time…" replied Heero, having shed all of his sweatdrops.

Looking out before him, Quatre saw… a hill… a steep hill. His eyes widened almost impossibly large. Taking a large breath, Quatre stepped tentatively and slid… all the way down.

Heero closed his eyes and flattened his ears as a loud crash reached them. Opening one eye and raising one ear, the cat-boy saw a large pile of smoke at the bottom of the hill. Hopping up and grabbing his tail, Heero slid down the hill, following Quatre's suit… only more carefully.

Heero started his tail into a helicopter twirl, sending the clouds of dust away from his master. He uncovered an extremely confused Quatre and… what in Wing Zero's name was that??

Quatre's dazed eyes focused slowly on the figure that lay on top of his chest. "A… a munchkin?!" The 'munchkin' blew the chestnut braid from his eyes and glared at Quatre, as the blonde boy flailed his arms, profusely spouting apologies.

"I'M NOT A MUNCHKIN!!!"

"A-re?" Quatre blinked with a 'piku piku' sound. "A- Ano… Eto… What are you then?"

"I am a CHIBI!!" With that, the long-haired chibi flailed, beating Quatre's chest angrily. "Watch where you're going! This road is here for everyone!"

Heero growled and glared at the chibi. This quieted the angered chibi. Crystal blue eyes widened and a grin spread across his face. "*gasp* KAWAII~!!" The chibi pounced Heero and glomped as the cat spat forth threats of death.

An evil cackle spread throughout the land… The chibi gulped… "The Wicked Witch of the West – Une~!", and cowered behind Heero.

***

"Ehh? -Une's- the Wicked Witch of the West?" Quatre raised a blonde brow, as Heero crossed his arms.

"That's not hard to believe…" he commented casually, as he shot a glare at the Wicked Une. Une smirked slightly and took a step towards Quatre. "Hee hee hee, my dearie. You'll NEVER get out of this land I say…NEVER!"

"Oh yeah?" Quatre moved a bunny slippered foot forward.

Somewhere in the distance, some random Kool-Aide man echoed, "Oooooooohhhh YEEEEAAAAAHHHHHH."

This startled the young boy, and he made a headplant into the gundanium road, as Une cackled madly. Heero snarled a little, helping poor Quatre get his face, which was embedded into the shiny shiny metal out, and had him sit on the road, holding an icepack to his forehead. The long-haired chibi was scarlet with fury. "Yoooouu meanie! You've done it now! Now…" 

He grabbed Heero's paw and made swiping motions at Une. "Oooh, grrrr, I'm going to get you, I'm going to eat you…" he paused, seeing that Heero wasn't getting his hint. His blue eyes turned up to the neko. "What's yer problem?!?!? Get –her-!" Heero grinned unnervingly in return, and calmly picked up the chibi, lobbing him at Une's head.

Heero had impeccable aim, because the chibi landed right in the middle of the bunned woman's face. The chibi shrieked and clawed in fear, but ended up knocking off Une's glasses.

"Ack! My glasses!" Une yelped, and dropped to the ground, searching blindly for her glasses. The chibi hopped away, and flung himself onto Heero's head, yowling. "HEEEEEEEE-CHAAAAAAAAAAAAN!" he spat. He beat on Heero's head futilely. Heero rolled his eyes, and set the chibi on his shoulder, which clung to his neck in terror, but put up with the chibi to smugly watch Une.

Just then, a voice was heard from behind two small tree branches. "I. Am. A. Tree." *skitter skitter* "You. Cannot. See. Me." A silver-masked, blonde haired guy holding two tree limbs scuttled up to Une, and bent his head low, and in a whisper, audible to everyone around him –including- Une, said, "Lady Une, what are –they- doing here?"

"Zechs!" Quatre exclaimed, making the colonel jump and place the two limbs in front of him in defense. "You do not know my name! I am MYSTERIOUS! NOBODY KNOWS MY NAME!" he cried in protest. "YOU cannot SEE me!"

The chibi, Heero, and Quatre's heads loaded up with sweatdrops. A small sound, which sounded suspiciously like a *poink* came from Une's head. "Z-Zechs…" She laid a gloved hand on her face, and tilted her witch hat so that it shadowed her face.

"NO! YOU CANNOT SEEEEEE MEEEE! I AM THE OMINOUS FORCE THAT IS!" Zechs flailed his tree branches around, allowing even –more- sweatdrops to appear. By this time, Une had already found her glasses, and, propping them on her nose, shot a glare at the masked man.

"-Zechs.- That's quite enough. You may go…go back to your troop of flying monkeys," she growled. "Sir! I mean, ma'am! I mean, yes! I will go, but I will be back, to HAUNT you as the OMINOUS force that I am!!" He skittered off into the brush, and everyone's sweatdrops fell to the ground. They all doused Une with sweatdrop-water, and she shrieked, as she disappeared in a cloud of green smoke.

"Gee, wonder what –that- was about," the chibi mused atop Heero's shoulder. Heero shrugged, and permitted the chibi to stay, for it could possibly get eaten by foxes and whatnot on the ground, and besides, it wasn't bothering him all that much. The chibi grinned. "I forgot to introduce myself. I'm Duo. Duo Maxwell."

Quatre reached a hand up from the floor to shake Duo's, icepack discarded. "Nice to meet you, Duo-chan," he giggled, and scooted off the gundanium road to the multi-colored grass on the side, to stand up. "Okay! Let's go!"

"Demo…" Heero looked slightly confused. "Didn't Noin tell you to stay –on- the road?"

Quatre snorted a little. "She told me to keep the shoes on, but she only told me to –follow- the gundanium road. Not to go –on- it." And with a mild smile, for Quatre was –slightly- irritated (to put it in dear Soujiro's words) at the bunny slippers, he skipped off to the side of the road, while those with better traction (i.e. Hee-chan) stayed on the gundanium road.

***

The further they went, the more Duo talked, and the more Heero pretended not to listen. Quatre watched them both, laughing to himself. Maa, one could almost say that… they were cute when they were together. Quatre's train of thought was, however, blocked by an obstacle in his path. And he hit it, square in the face.

"Mou…" grumbled the golden-haired boy, as he rubbed his forehead and looked slowly up at the…umm… well… obstacle. At first, all he saw was a thin, ordinary stick. Looking further up, his eyes caught sight of… shoes sticking out of straw sticking out of… pants?? Quatre shook his head, perhaps a little too hard as it began throbbing again. He continued the path upwards, finding a flannel shirt with… more straw sticking out of it. And where the face was _supposed_ to be, Quatre found himself staring at the most foul scowl he had ever laid eyes on.

Apparently, the scarecrow was waiting for Quatre to look up to it… her? face, for she (yes, decidedly a she somehow) showered him with booms of shouts for running into her. "How DARE you~!!! Two crows were just ABOUT to sit on my shoulder so I could scare them off and maybe actually get PAID for my job today but NOOOOOOO, you had to just walk wherever you wanted~!!!" With that, she resumed her unbroken scowl, shadowed by a… straw hat.

"I wouldn't sit on your shoulder if I was a hawk," remarked Duo, more to himself and his party than to anyone else.

"Naaaniiiiiii??" came the growl from the scarecrow.

"I mean… I can't believe someone would even consider paying you for something you do sooo _naturally_."

"Well, at least I'm taller than you~!!"

"Hee…" Duo grinned widely. "At least I get to perch on Heero's shoulder~!"

With that last remark, the scarecrow wailed streams of tears and threw such a tantrum that she knocked herself off the stick and on top of Quatre. The boy responded with a muffled "oomff."

Her tears forgotten, the scarecrow gazed at the stick for what seemed like minutes. Then she looked back at herself, sitting on top of a dazed Quatre. Then back at the stick… Back and forth at least… fifty times Duo counted? Then… "Oh NOOOOO~!!!"

Heero covered his sensitive ears from the screech, and Duo hid his head in Heero's shirt. "…nani?" came the smothered reply from the boy beneath the scarecrow.

"I… I don't… don't… Waaaaaahhhh~!!"

"Intelligibly, please…" Heero growled.

"I don't know how to *sob* get back on the *sob* stiiiiiiick~!!" Tears poured forth again, threatening to drown Quatre. Unable to stand it anymore, Duo rolled up his sleeves even further and hopped off of Heero's shoulder. He walked over to the scarecrow, grabbed her by her flannel shirt, and threw her as far as he could… to the other side of the Gundanium path. (Hey, that's far for a Chibi~!!) Dusting his hands, he returned to his perch upon Heero's shoulder.

Quatre sat up, reorienting himself. There was the road… Heero and Duo… and the scarecrow. The scarecrow~! Immediately, Quatre stood up and bowed, repeatedly saying "Gomen nasai, gomen nasai~!" Quickly, he jumped on the Gundanium road and slid across to the scarecrow. When he got safely to the grass, he offered her a hand up. She accepted, haughtily, pretending she remembered how to get up by herself.

"Ne, if I may ask, why don't you remember how to get back up on the stick?" Quatre's puzzled look met the scarecrow's ashamed one.

"Because… I've never done that right before. In fact,… I've never done anything right before…" Tears brimmed at the edges of her eyes. Quatre held up his hands, consoling the girl as quickly as he could.

"Now now, it can't be that bad. Don't worry, we'll help you get ba-"

And was promptly cut off by Duo. "Whahahahaaaa, you don't have a braiiinnn~!"

"Shut Uuuuppp~!" wailed the scarecrow, tears already streaming once again.

Quatre put a hand to his head. "Mou." Arguments continued while he thought to himself, partly weary, partly achy, and partly to solve the problem. "Where is your boss??" he asked in half attempt at anything.

"I… don't… know…" the scarecrow replied with the blankest expression on her face. Everyone face faulted. She hit her fist on an open palm as probably the most wonderful idea she had ever conceived entered her head. "But I'm sure the Wizard of OZ will know~!!"

"Wizard of OZ??" Heero interrogated. "Who's that?"

"He's the guy who knows everything, and if you follow this road, you'll find him." She replied simply, shrugging her shoulders. "Well, there's no choice, we must all go to this OZ Wiz guy~!" Decidedly, she began walking down the path before her… the wrong way.

"Hey, dunce, that's the wrong way~!" Duo squeaked from his perch.

The scarecrow's face turned red as she froze in mid-step. "Ano… if you're going to be coming with us, could we at least have your name?" inquired Quatre's soft voice.

"If you can remember it," Duo put in under his breath.

The scarecrow ignored him. "Relena Peacecraft." Quatre blinked, thinking he saw a smile. But as soon as he opened his eyes again, the haughty expression was back as she headed down the path in the right direction. Quatre scuffled after them, spirits fallen and hope scattered.

***

The sparse strands of sunlight streamed through the trees, catching a sliver of silver tin on its edge. Brown hair was draped over one side of the tin figure's face, and the concealed jade eyes sparkled against the sun's rays. It would have been a truly beautiful sight indeed—yet the figure was not moving. Yes, solitary, and unmoving, it stood forever at a silent vigil amidst the forest trees.

Poor crestfallen Quatre was trudging along the side of the gundanium road, his multifarious injuries beginning to pain him now. He was ahead of the rest of the group, and Relena-sama was bringing up the rear. The chibi and the neko were talking to each other, and if the scarecrow dare interrupted them, the cat would make a swipe at her, not tearing his eyes from the braided ones. Well! At least –someone- was happy…

Quatre frowned softly. Would he be here forever? He was beginning to get tired of this weird world, and getting hurt all the time by falling down, or worse, running into something like…he shuddered a little, thinking of his recent encounter with the poor scarecrow.

All of the sudden, his blue-green eyes caught a glimmer in the trees. He paused alongside the trail, and peered harder into the dense foliage. Yes, something was there…something very, very, very…HOT! Omigod! A bishonen in the forest, just –standing- there?!?!?!? What luck! Quatre dropped to his knees and quickly thanked Allah for some rest from this messed up world.

Heero had reached the point where Quatre had stopped, and the lovely scarecrow-woman, called out from some bushes… "Hey, guys! I'm standing in this pretty patch of three-leaved plants! They're really cool! You ought to come look!"

Duo smacked his forehead, and yelled back, "Ah, no thank you, Relena-sama!! We're allergic…to that kind of plant." He finished with a snicker. "Hey," called the voice again, "why am I so itchy all of the sudden??"

A helpless smile tugged at the cat-boy's face, and he stoically turned back to Quatre, and looked in the direction of the bishonen. "Oh hey. What's that? A person? Should we go help him?"

Quatre bluuuuuuuuushed and grinned. "Ehehehehe. No. In fact, you two…ah…take it easy. –I'll- take care of this one." He waved them away, and with that, he leapt over the gundanium road with surprising grace, and took off into the forest.

Duo tilted his head, as Relena showed up, covered in poison ivy. Tears were streaming from her eyes. "It ittcheeeeessss…" she complained, and received an odd look from both the chibi and the neko. Duo burst into laughter, as Heero still stared at her.

Meanwhile, our dear Quatre had arrived in a clearing to find a banged tin man, wearing a dark blue turtleneck and ivory jeans, and his jaw dropped a little. –Well-…he thought he looked good from afar…

"Mmmmfffgghhh," said the tin man. Quatre was immediately interested. "Huh? Are you okay?" he asked with a deep concern. The banged boy took a look at him, and his emerald eyes widened slightly. It took him several blinks to get his eyes down to normal size, and he again, spouted more unintelligible words. Quatre sweatdropped a little. "Uhh…"

The boy gazed pointedly at the Sandrock pilot, and his eyes looked over at a can of oil sitting next to him. "Oh~!" Quatre gasped. "Gomen nasai! I'll get you…" he paused a little, for the words to sink into his head, "oiled up." A mental smirk appeared in his head. What have you been doing lately, Quatre-sama? Oh, nothing, nothing…getting sucked into a surreal world, being chased by Lady Une, meeting all sorts of weird folks…and oiling up hot bishonens. You?

He smiled a little, as he oiled the corners of the boy's mouth, and his lips opened, to form one word : "Arigatou."

"Ah! Y-You're welcome!" Quatre stammered nervously, as a blush creeped up on his cheeks. The boy faintly smiled—not really, but a semi-smile nonetheless—and said nothing more, as one by one, his appendages and joints began to work again. He finally dipped his head slightly.

"Doumo arigatou."

A smiiiiile from Quatre, and another blush. "You're welcome, but…what happened to you?"

"Oh. I was working outside, and it was raining. I rusted over," he replied. Quatre smiled dumbly. "Ahhh, I see…so…um, what's your name…?" he queried curiously.

"I do not have a name, really." Jade eyes flickered a little in the sun's afterglow. "But…some call me Trowa Barton."

~Aiiiiie~! Trowa Baaaarrtooon! Quatre almost fell over again, but he planted his bunny slippers where they were, and willed himself to –quit—blushing. Trowa dipped his head again. "I'm sorry to burden you…but you seem to be helping some others…" he gestured to Heero trying to run away from Poison-Ivy-Relena, who was chasing him, "…and I thought you might be able to help me."

"Oh, sure! Sure!" Quatre replied hastily, as he smiled shyly again. Trowa sweatdropped slightly. "Umm…I didn't even tell you my problem, but…arigatou," he spoke quietly.

Quatre suddenly felt like the stupidest person on Earth. Maybe –he- should request a brain instead of Relena. "Oh, um…g-gomen…gomen nasai…what is the problem, though?" he questioned.

"I don't have a heart," Trowa simply said. "I don't have any emotions at all."

Quatre's first inclination was to say, "Well, you don't –need- to go to the Wizard of OZ for THAT…I can help you…" but a reasonable voice chastised him. He opened his mouth, and spoke, "Oh…I'd love to help you, then! Come along! Just…" he gazed over at Relena, "you might not want to touch her."

Trowa let out a laugh, making Quatre's spirits soar to new heights. "Arigatou, again," he said, and smiled.

Quatre grinned. "You are welcome, again…" He didn't care if he was blushing—this was the BEST time he'd had in his life!! And so, he led Trowa Barton out to meet the others, with a new hope sparking inside him.

***

In fact, Quatre had almost felt like skipping down the Gundanium road. Part of him, however, felt that it would be too cliché somehow. Anyway, the young pilot knew better – it could almost be considered suicidal to do such things in these pink slippery bunny slippers.

Although he kept his steady walk on the outside, his heart skipped and twirled wherever it pleased on the inside. In fact, Quatre didn't notice when the forest began to close in on the group. Soon, however, Quatre had to retreat to the road, holding on to Trowa for balance, because the trees had taken up too much of the sides.

As all things are bound to happen, though, Quatre slipped and scooted ahead of the group. While the others were catching up and Quatre was checking for any new wounds, the trees rustled with movement. In the time it took for Quatre to look up, a lion had popped out of nowhere. The blond pilot's eyes widened immeasurably as he gazed into the roaring face of a lion with… a black mane?

Quatre trembled, watching the lion look around in the group. Seeing Duo, he bounded straight for the chibi that sat upon Heero's shoulder. The wild feline was stopped short, however, as Heero pulled out a gun and pointed it at the beast. "Omae o korosu."

One look into the cobalt eyes sent the lion skittering the other direction – to Relena. The scarecrow froze, looking like a deer in headlights. Then she giggled and held out her arms, surprising the lion. He paused in his skittering, glaring at the bag of straw. "Onna!!" he boomed.

Relena's grin faded and her normally haughty expression took over. "How DARE you~!"

With that, the lion bounded for Relena, and probably would have torn her to shreds, had Quatre not stepped in the way. His stern expression radiated down to the lion. "You should be ashamed of yourself. Picking on Relena just because she's a girl."

"But she's stupid!" the lion shot back.

"Nonetheless, you're still picking on her because she's less smart than you. Not only that, but what about Duo? Picking on him only because he's smaller than you. What are you thinking?" Quatre paused, waiting for an answer, his expression never lightening.

The lion sat, his face turned downward to face the ground. When a sound did come forth, it sounded broken and ashamed. "I am not worthy of Nataku; I have no bravery, no justice." He turned around to go back to the forest.

Quatre's expression fell immediately to pieces, reaching a hand out to the retreating lion. "Matte, kudasai." The voice was soft, unlike the reprimanding one earlier. "I didn't mean it like that."

The black mane shook back and forth to indicate a 'no'. "You're right. I've always known I wasn't worthy of Nataku. I'll never find my bravery – the source of justice. I probably have none."

Gazing at the lion, Quatre suddenly wished he hadn't said anything… even if Relena did get torn to pieces. Then an idea brightened Quatre's expression. "Ne, if you like, you can join our group."

"Join…?" The lion glanced back at Quatre. His smile was kind and gentle.

"Hai. We're going to the Wizard to ask for things." The blonde boy extended a hand in the lion's direction. "You can ask for your bravery. Would you like to come with us?"

Looking around him, the obsidian-maned lion nodded. "I, Wufei, refuse to fail you all!"

It was then that they all noticed rustling leaves. Heero crouched, ready to pounce, and Duo secured his perch on the cat-boy's shoulder. Wufei growled, safely behind Duo and Heero. Relena cooed at the bushes, expecting some sort of cute animal to pop out, but was tripped up by her own straw. Trowa just stood motionless and Quatre peeped out from behind Trowa. The rustling grew louder, until finally…

A slinking man, hands adorned with two leaved branches, scooted out of the bushes. Everyone facefaulted, except for Trowa and Heero, who just settled for sweatdrops.

"Not Zechs again…" moaned Quatre, grabbing Trowa's hand with the intent of going onward. All the rest began to follow, including Relena, until a voice stopped them.

"You cannot seeeeee me!! I am the FORCE that IS!!!" Tree branches waving frantically, Zechs continued his rant while the group exchanged pathetic looks.

"Who are you trying to convince… us or you?" inquired Duo. With that, Zech's movements and speeches ceased. He blinked for a few minutes, seeming to consider the idea.

"That matters not! The truth is that I have you now!!" With a wave of his hand, swarms of flying monkeys attacked Quatre and his followers. Chaos ensued. Quatre ran in circles, occasionally sliding, flailing his arms about to ward off the flying beasts. Heero and Duo had tag teamed against the monkeys, swatting one after another. Wufei roared and pawed, hoping to scare off the monsters. Relena, on the other hand, proceeded to try and pet the things only receiving bites in return.

A whistle pierced everyone's ears and echoed throughout the forest. All the monkeys stopped in mid-flight, turning to the source of the noise. After pausing for a bit, they flew to Trowa, who had both arms extended where they all took their places.

"Sasuga, Trowa," spoke a feminine voice. "Just like the old days… before you got assigned to such a laborer's job." Descending from a rope which led to no where, a woman dressed in lavish, circus clothes stepped onto the Gundanium road and laughed, hand up to her mouth and all. "Long time, no see, ne?"

Trowa's expression darkened. "Catherine," he regarded. The monkeys retreated, leaving the two to regard each other in electric glares.

"That's nothing, you should watch this," commented Trowa. He petted Wufei's ebony mane, opened his mouth, and put his head inside. Applause.

Cathrine laughed, "Oh, just as good with animals as ever." Suddenly, she stomped her foot with an irritable expression. "But that's NOT why I'm here. I left you out there to rust, and why haven't you rusted yet? Do you have any idea what it's like to have to show constantly stolen by you?"

"Jealous?" came the reply with a surprising lack of expression.

"Jealous. Jealous? HA! That doesn't even begin to explain how I felt. Trowa Barton, I'll never forgive you~!" With that, the extravagantly dressed woman extended her hand. "Zechs, leaf attack, now~!"

Zechs cackled, warning everyone to feel his wrath, and proceeded to hit Trowa with the branches in his hands. The blows were, however, softened by the leaves and ineffective. "Ma- masaka!" Zechs gasped. "He can't be invincible!!"

With an extremely late reaction, Relena giggled with glee. "My very own tree pet~!" She glomped Zechs with all of her straw-being, then sucked Catherine into the glomp as well. "Two tree pets!!" Everyone watched in awe as the two villains struggled. When they finally freed themselves, the retreated by the rope in the sky stopping every once in a while to scratch.

"I'll get you yet Trowa Barton~!" and "But I am the ominous force that is…" was the last that they had heard of them. For now, at least. Quatre shrugged and let Trowa lead him and the others down the Gundanium road, once again.

***

Trowa allowed his jade eyes to wander up to the rose-colored sky above, as one arm supported Quatre from falling. A slight frown passed his lips. He didn't know his sister was out to get him all this time…

Quatre hugged his arm comfortingly. "Don't worry, Trowa! I'll make sure you –never- rust again!"

Trowa smiled, and he blushed a little, but quickly used his brown bangs to hide the scarlet on his cheeks. "Hehehe…arigatou…"

Duo was playing idly with his braid, while Heero was smoothing out the fur on his ears as they walked along after Trowa and Quatre.

"Maaaan," Duo laughed, "there are some really weird people in OZ. Me, I've never been out of my chibi-village, so I never knew how strange this world is…"

"You're telling me," Heero agreed, "and I'm positive it'll get weirder, too…"

Behind them, Wufei was trying to snatch his ebony tail away from Poison-Ivy-Relena-Sama.

"But it's so preeeetttyyyy!" Relena argued, making another swipe at his tail.

"Onna! STOP PLAYING WITH MY TAIL!" Wufei shrieked. As tears welled in the straw-girl's eyes, he rolled his dark eyes, and offered her his tail, which she gladly snatched it up, and rubbed it against her fabric cheek.

"Waii waaaaiiii~! My own kittyyy!" Relena squealed, and received another eye-roll from poor Wufei.

The traveling caravan came upon a lovely field full of red roses, and amidst those roses, the gundanium path snaked up to a large mansion, more or less covered with roses. 

"I thought they were supposed to be poppies," Trowa commented, only to receive a *whack* from the Narrator.

"Poppies are what they use to make marijuana," the Narrator explained matter-o-factly, "and besides, the Wizard-Thing-of-OZ wanted these roses out here."

As Trowa rubbed his aching head, the blonde boy beside him was none too pleased.

"Okay! That's it!"

Contrary to the belief that dear Quatre was a happy, nice, little Gundam Pilot; he was secretly taking boxing lessons in his underground desert base and delivered quite a punch to the Narrator.

The Narrator's eyes went all swirly-like, and she fell into the bed of roses with an "Ooorrroo…" sound. "Aaaa…fine, fine, poppies. But I'm warning you…"

The red roses changed themselves to poppies instantly, and the Narrator ran off into the background of the story to dictate once more.

As the travelers looked out onto the field of *ahem* poppies, a sudden sleepy feeling overtook Quatre, Heero, and Wufei, and the three flopped onto the gundanium road with a *thump*. Trowa caught the Sandrock pilot in his arms, while Duo tried to, but hopped out of the way before he was ultimately squashed. Relena blinked as the figure whose tail she was holding onto fell limp on the ground.

"Darnit! That narrator~!" Duo squeaked, and shook his tiny fist at the pink sky.

"…yes, but…why are we still awake?" Trowa asked curiously.

"Oooo! Oooo! I know, I know! Let me answer!" Relena's hand shot up in the air, and both Trowa and Duo sweatdropped.

"Ehh…um…go ahead," Duo offered, as he skritched his head confusedly. The scarecrow beamed, and danced. "I don't have a nose! And Trowa can't smell, and you…" She pointed to Duo's chibifyed form, "you don't have a nose, either! You're chiiibiiii!"

You may now take the time to gasp.

Trowa blinked a bit. "I…I think she's right, Duo."

Duo's mouth was gaping. "…I…I think you're right, Trowa."

The scarecrow looked surprised. "I'm…right? I'm right!" She appeared haughty again. "Of…of course I'm right? What would you expect?"

"Uh…the wrong answer?" Duo piped up. Relena was about to cry again, but Trowa gazed back to Quatre. "…guys. We have to get them awake." Duo nodded dutifully, and began to bop Heero on the head with his braid. "Come…on…baka…wake…UP!" 

The small line for Trowa's mouth twitched slightly, as he looked upon the blonde boy's face. Oh, well…it works in fairy tales…

The banged one bent down and kissed Quatre on the lips.

Quatre's blue-green eyes shot open, and his body tensed, until he finally just fainted, the blush claiming his cheeks once more. Trowa pulled back, and blinked. Duo was sitting on his shoulder. "Way to go! You woke him up, just to make him unconscious again. Good job, Doctor Barton!"

Trowa shot a glare at chibi-Duo, and shrugged, making the small boy fall off his shoulders with a squeak.

"We're getting nowhere. We should just go to the Treize Palace, and ask them to revive them," the emerald-eyed tin boy suggested.

"Did you say TREIZE?!?!" Wufei the lion was definitely NOT unconscious anymore, and sat up with a silly grin on his face. Duo sweatdropped again, and Trowa said, "Well, at least he's not sleeping anymore. He can carry Heero."

"NANI~!? I'm not carrying him…!" the charcoal-eyed lion protested. Duo scampered up his shoulder and gave him an evil grin. "You'd better," the chibi remarked, "or else, when he comes to, I'll tell him you left him here…"

A helpless glare from Wufei, as the boy picked up Heero, and nodded to Trowa. "….okay." *gulp*

The poppies morphed to roses again, and Trowa sighed as a voice echoed, "Hehehehehe…" in the trees.

And so, Trowa with Quatre in his arms, Wufei, with Heero in his arms and chibi-Duo on his shoulder, and the scarecrow Relena, who was still dancing with victory, walked through the roses and to the doors of the infamous Treize Palace.

***

When they reached the door, Trowa set Quatre down, taking special care with the blonde boy's head. Wufei, after many glares from Duo, followed suit, only with slightly less, irritated care. However, Relena came to the entrance of the mansion with a twirl.

Trowa cocked his head at the door and pondered for a while. Why was it supposed to be difficult to get into the Treize Palace when all one had to do was knock on the door? Shrugging, the metal boy finally knocked on the door, the sound resounding throughout him as well as the house. And he waited.

After a while, a hole opened so the person could look out; however, all they got was a view of everyone's knees and Duo's face. Rolling his eyes, the person shut the peephole and opened another that was located several feet higher, only receiving a scowl from Duo.

"Yes, what do you want?" inquired the face with a snooty tone. His eyes appeared impatient for the answer.

Trowa, closest to the open hole, spoke up. "We were hoping to speak to Treize and ask him one favor each."

"Well, I'm sorry, but that's just not possible right now. Come back another day." And the hole closed.

Intense green eyes refused to give up, however, as Trowa knocked on the door again.

"What is it? What is it??" More impatience.

"I don't think you've listened to our entire explanation."

"Well, go ahead and explain."

At this, Duo clambered up to the banged tin-boy in order to fully explain. "We've been sent by the Good Witch Noin…"

And the impatient servant promptly cut him off. "Noin sends everyone this way. I don't think that's enough to grant entry."

"But, man, we have the fuzzy pink slippers~!" Duo replied.

"I'm sorry, no."

"Not even if they're _bunny_ slippers??"

"Oh wait, let me check with Treize-sama." The hole closed and left the group waiting for only five minutes. When he returned, all he had to say was, "I'm sorry, no access is permitted."

With that, the tiny door shut again. Duo scowled at door in response. Frowning, Trowa realized that he was out of ideas. Relena simply picked roses, getting pricked by the thorns.

Wufei put a hand on Trowa's unoccupied shoulder, a serious look settled into his ebony eyes. "Let me handle this." The dark lion walked boldly up to the door and paused. He raised a paw and let an echoing bang sound on the door. The door opened once more, this time with a face that looked much more than irritated. Before the eyes recognized the image of Wufei standing before them, however, Wufei took his chance to speak. "I'm here to see Treize, and I have company. If that doesn't suit him, then tell him to forget about the ball this weekend."

The face suddenly melted into utter guilt and horror of making such a mistake. "Oh, Wufei-sama, I didn't know you were here! That's a completely different story!! Please come in." The peephole closed and the door opened. Trowa picked Quatre up again, and Wufei resumed in carrying Heero.

When they had all entered the mansion, a sight reached their eyes like no other. Several couples were dancing on the floor to waltz music and the doorman had broken into song. "A princess woken up by a prince's kiss, a peasant married into royalty bliss, a beast transformed by a maiden's love, a girl lost in an imaginary world – Oh, but that's a completely different story!"

After he had finished, Wufei asked simply, "Where is Treize?" All the others (who weren't sleeping), had been too speechless to ask. (Oh yes, save for Relena who was demanding a dance with one of the Prince Charmings.)

"In his chambers, like he always is," replied the servant. Then he decided to add, "Umm, the company chambers, not those…" when Wufei had started off in different direction.

"Oh…" Wufei tried to hide his blush inside his mane.

Footsteps echoing down a long, empty corridor, the group walked up to an entrance larger than the front doors. Wufei kicked open the doors, his arms being used by Heero's unconscious form and Relena's lack of a brain being used by… Relena's whims. They made their way into the center of the marbled floor. Torches all about the room lighted up as a banner of Treize himself rolled down from the ceiling and hit the floor, taking the entire height of the wall. Glorious fanfare started to play from the surround sound speakers and a voice boomed through.

"Who dares disturb the Great Treize-sama's rest?"

Trowa laid Quatre down, green eyes gazing up at the elegant tapestry. "We each wanted to ask a favor."

"Do you have the pink bunny slippers?"

"Yes."

"Do you have the Wicked Witch of the West's glasses?"

"Um… no, I wasn't aware-"

"If you want a wish, you must get Lady Une's glasses from her. Now go."

Wufei glared at the tapestry, face flushed in anger. "What do you want with her glasses?"

The voice boomed in reply. "I like her better without her glasses. She's nicer. Also, I gain her power if I acquire her glasses." With that, Wufei's anger faded. "No go and fetch me the eye pieces."

Duo sweatdropped. "First we need you to revive Quatre and Heero. They'd be very effective for the mission." Somewhere in the background, Relena was humming with the music and dancing with a torch.

"There is a bowl of special water by the entrance. Grab it."

Trowa did so.

"Now, take some and splash it on them."

Here Trowa paused. Rust. He would rust. Shrugging and refusing to give it further thought (especially when compared to Quatre's awakening), the tin-boy stuck his hands in the water and softly tossed it on the blonde boy's face.

Quatre's eyes snapped open and tried to focus on something – anything. When they did, they saw Trowa's emerald eyes gazing back down at him. "Daijoubu?" Trowa asked in a low voice. A blush spread over Quatre's face as he slowly nodded. He then noticed that the fingers touching his flushed cheeks were wet.

"Trowa! you'll rust!" Quatre grabbed his hand, and it was Trowa's turn to blush. The blonde pilot took out a handkerchief from his pocket and wiped the taller boy's hands dry. "There, is that better?" he asked in a hushed voice. Trowa nodded, staring into the turquoise eyes. Quatre smiled.

Duo, on the other hand, dipped his hair in the water and wrung it out over Heero's face. The cat-boy bolted upright, grabbing Duo. Duo frowned at the cobalt eyes, tapping Heero's nose with the end of his braid. "Don't do that again."

Heero blinked a few times, looked at his surroundings, and decidedly 'hned' as he put Duo back up on his designated shoulder. The chibi kept the picture of Heero's secret smile in his heart, however.

Relena suddenly burst into the quiet scene with screeches and squeals as she waved her arm around. It had caught fire. Wufei took the bowl of water and threw it at the scarecrow. "Aaaahhhh, much better," she smiled.

Clearing his throat, Treize resumed his demanding speech. "Now, go get me the glasses to retrieve your wishes." Quatre looked at Trowa with a puzzled look on his face.

"I'll explain later," Trowa patted the golden hair reassuringly. With that, they all got up on their own, some confused, some emboldened, and some singed, and walked out the door to set upon their quest.

***

"Couldn't we have just –left- Relena there with her Prince Charming Torch?" Duo whined atop Heero's shoulder. Heero responded with clapping a hand on his face. "…we should have."

"I don't think we want to piss off the entrance guard any more than we have already…" Trowa mumbled, shooting a sidelong glance at Wufei. "Which reminds me…a ball with the Wizard of OZ?"

The black lion blushed furiously, and a nosebleed ensued. "Aaggghh…" the Chinese boy-lion cried miserably, as Quatre fetched his handkerchief again, and threw it to him. The lion caught it with accuracy, and daintily dabbed his nose. Trowa exhaled audibly in a sigh, and a small smile perked his features. "Question withdrawn. I don't want to risk another nosebleed," he said calmly, but light-heartedly.

Quatre giggled a bit, and hugged Trowa (not just his arm, his whole chest) tightly to avoid from slipping, but of course, not –just- for that reason alone. Relena skipped along behind them, pausing randomly to ogle the roses that adorned the path to the dark Witch Une's house. "Now," Quatre teased, "are you telling me what happened, or what?" He was blushing, conveniently forgetting to tell Trowa of the strange dream he had. 

Trowa's smile widened a bit more, looking into the Sandrock pilot's anxious teal eyes. "Nothing, really. Relena said something right for once, and…" he paused, to allow Quatre to congratulate the elated scarecrow, and then continued, "…and I tried to wake you, but you fainted when…"

"You mean you actually –kissed- me?!?!? I thought that was a dream!!" Quatre yelped, his eyes widening. Now, the crimson had completely conquered Trowa's face, and he grinned sheepishly. "…yes?" Quatre threw his arms around Trowa with glee, and Duo bounced a bit on Heero's shoulder.

Heero's ears twitched curiously, and he gazed over to Duo. "Nani?"

Duo's violet eyes glimmered and he grinned. "I love mushy scenes," he sniffed, and Heero snuck a silent smile at him, as they plodded on.

*plod plod plod plod plod plod*

"Okay," the Narrator said, "all this plodding is boring! Let us skip to…"

Scene 436 : The Witch's Castle

A set of turquoise, emerald, ebony, cobalt, and violet eyes rested themselves on the dark castle leering above them. Relena, however, had made confetti with the rose petals, and was throwing them everywhere. "Happy New Year! Happy New Year! Happy--"

She was cut short by Une opening the door and thwacking her upside the head. She fell on the gundanium road with a *bonk* and Une blinked slightly through her glasses. "Huh. I thought you were the pizza guy." She was wearing a black, robe-like garment that looked kind of like pajamas. Everyone sweatdropped except Relena, who was recuperating from the bonk on the head. The scarecrow finally stood and rubbed her forehead viciously, before reverting back to her joy-afflicted self.

Une, however, shrugged, and opened the door wider. "Oh, well. Come in."

Heero raised an eyebrow. "…just like that, you let us in?"

"I can't very well kill you on my doorstep," Une replied coldly. "Blood stains are so hard to get out these days…" And she disappeared into the inner chambers of her castle, as everyone else exchanged looks, and followed her.

When they stepped into the living room, they were surrounded by harmonic chants of,

"Ooooorrrreeeeooo. Ooooorrrreeeeooo coookiieeee…oooorrreeeooo. Ooooooreeeooo cooookiiieee…"

Duo shook his head. "My God, Nabisco has some pretty weird marketing strategies."

Quatre shivered, and hugged Trowa, and the banged boy's narrowed green eyes searched the room cautiously. Only were they aware of the witch's arrival when she suddenly appeared in the doorway gnawing on a Hot Pocket.

"I got tired of waiting for the delivery dude," she commented, and finished off the Hot Pocket with a flourish. "Okay, now I'm ready to kill you."

Quatre's eyes widened. There must be a way to stall this…his mind raced furiously, and finally he stepped forward with a bunny-slipper'd foot and said, "What is it that you want?"

"Your bunny slippers, of course," Une told the blonde haired one. "The Good Witch of the North *grumble grumble* STOLE my bunny slippers, and gave them to you. I want them back."

Quatre clenched his teeth, thinking again. Okay, that wasn't a good stalling question…it usually seemed to work in regular stories…oh well.

Heero smirked slightly, and swished his tail curiously. "Actually, speaking of the Good Witch of the North…we've seen the pattern with the witches. The Wicked Witch of the East, the Wicked Witch of the West, the Good Witch of the North…but…whatever happened to the Good Witch of the South? I presume she's good, for coincidence's sake," he said stoically.

Une paused. "…um."

Wufei crossed his paws defiantly. "Yes, onna, why don't you tell us that?"

Another pause. "Ummmm…."

"It's because I am the Good Witch of the South!!" a voice yelled. Zechs came jumping into the room, tree branches discarded, and tore off his bright red uniform and mask to reveal a pink leotard and tutu.

Everyone's eyes widened, and humongous sweatdrops appeared on the sides of their heads.

"Yes! I was working an undercover operation with my comrades here, Sally Po and Hilde," Zechs continued calmly, and showed two flying monkeys in, who stripped off their suits to reveal twisted blonde hair and a shock of black hair on two serious women's heads.

The sweatdrops got bigger, and Duo clung to Heero, and Quatre to Trowa, and all the while Wufei was wishing for a Wizard of OZ he could cling to. Relena seemed disinterested, and went outside to go gather more confetti.

Sally Po smiled at Une's shocked expression. "Lady Une, I didn't think we'd meet here," she remarked, and her lipsticked lips curved into a smug smile. "Wh…what about Catherine?" Trowa stammered uncertainly. 

"Right here, brother!"

Catherine glomped the Sandrock and Heavyarms pilot in a big hug. "I'm sorry to have upset you like that, brother, but Une was watching in her telescreen, and I had to act mean. Gomen nasai!!"

The sweatdrop on Trowa's head largened, and he blinked several times. Une appeared even more shocked, as she turned to her telescreen. "How…how did you know I was watching you?"

"Oh, I gave them a couple hints, Lady Une."

Treize appeared in the doorway of the castle, a grin upon his face. "Konnichiwa, Wufei. You –know- I wouldn't miss our date to the ball for anything."

"Treeeiiize!" Wufei squealed girlishly, and huggled the OZ commander.

"Treize-sama!" Une gasped, and put a hand on her head. "This…this was all…a scam? How dare you all! I –will- kill these…pests, now!" A ball of energy glowed in her quivering hands.

All of the sudden, everyone's sweatdrops dropped, and drenched Une with sweatdrop-water.

"AAAAAAAAIIIIIIEEEE!!!!" she shrieked. "I'm meeeelllltiiinggg….Meeeeellltiiinggg!" Her robes collapsed from underneath her and all that could be seen was a pointy black hat, and her glasses.

"Well, phoo," Treize pouted. "You killed her. Oh well."

Suddenly, Relena rushed in with her rose-confetti, and threw it on everyone. "HAPPY NEW YEAR!"

Treize nearly fainted at the ruthless butchering of his prized roses, but Wufei steadied him with a paw.

"Oh my…my…my BEAUTIFUL ROSES!!!" Treize collapsed into a heap of sobs. Wufei solaced him, and then, looked up angrily at the impertinent scarecrow. "Omae o korosu!"

"Hey! That's Heero's line!" Duo yelled in protest, but decided to shut up, and watch the fight anyway.

Quatre swiftly bent down, and saved Une's glasses from being trampled by Relena, while she rushed about the room screaming bloody murder, while Wufei pursued her with his glittering katana. He shut his eyes, and yelled,

"DAME DA! Wufei, STOP! Relena, you TOO! Treize-sama…" he stepped from Trowa's embrace over to the huddled figure in the doorway. "Here are Une's glasses, as you requested. Please…don't hurt her. All she needs is a brain." Relena huffed at that remark, and Duo sniggered softly.

Treize gazed up with his blue eyes, and, regaining his composure, stood up and dusted himself off, taking the glasses from Quatre. "You're right. She's not to blame, if…she's stupid."

A pout from Relena, and Duo bubbled over in laughter, making Heero laugh a little with him.

Wufei immediately returned loyally to his side, and he smiled at the troupe. "Good work, Zechs. I knew I could trust you."

The tutu-ed Zechs bowed respectfully. "Sir," he said.

"Okay. Follow me back to my mansion, and I will give you your requested things," Treize offered.

Quatre ran back to the tin boy, and hugged him. He'd finally have a heart, and everyone would have what they wanted…but was going home really what –he- wanted? He was so happy here…

His train of deep thought was cut short by Trowa moving with the rest of the group to follow Treize-sama. The jade-eyed boy smiled down at Quatre. "Don't worry. Just follow your heart," he stated softly.

Quatre smiled in return. "Arigatou, Trowa."

And so, Zechs, Catherine, Hilde, Sally Po, Wufei, Trowa, Quatre, Duo, and Heero all followed Treize back to his palace, each hoping for his or her wish to be granted. The Narrator sat back on a tree in the forest, and gawked at the odd crew traveling underneath her. "Wow, didn't know Zechs was a cross-dresser," she only said. And her only reply was from the castle, which said, "Oooooorrreeeooo. Oooooorrrreeeeoooo coookkkiiiiieee."

***

Back at Trieze's Palace, the group lined up to receive their respective wishes. First Relena, then Duo, then Trowa, then Wufei, and last Quatre. Treize stopped before Relena, looking into the blissfully dull and haughty eyes. He shook his head and picked out her gift, handing her a… grasshopper.

The grasshopper spoke, "Hi, Gus Grasshopper's the name, and I'm here to be your brain!" Relena immediately shrieked and tossed the grasshopper back at Treize. "Now Relena, that isn't any way to be polite, and if you want to be a Peacecraft, you have to learn polite manners," the grasshopper reprimanded. Relena blinked for a bit, and picked the grasshopper back up, putting it on her shoulder.

"I have a brain!" she exclaimed with glee.

Treize then walked up to the snickering Duo. From somewhere in his bag of tricks, he pulled out a magic wand. Waving the magical wand, he mumbled, "Bubbily Dubbily Dee…" and Duo grew to normal size. After gawking at his hands and legs, Duo immediately glomped Heero who pretended to resent it. But there was no fooling Duo.

The OZ Wizard then walked up to Trowa. He pondered a bit before a light bulb lit up over his head. Digging around in the velvety bag, he pulled out some sparklies. After he threw them on Trowa, he dusted them off and proceeded to explain what they were. "These *ahem* sparklies help you to realize the emotions that have been trying to surface all of these years." Trowa took a look at Quatre and blushed when Quatre returned his gaze. Treize added, "then again, it could be that your emotions were already unlocked…"

Shrugging, he moved on to Wufei. He smiled at the black lion, mouthing the words, "I've been waiting for this." With that, he took out his sword. Wufei's eyes widened as Treize brought the sword down upon his shoulders. "I dub you, Keeper of Nataku, the bravest and most just being in my kingdom." Wufei shot a confused look at the sword, then directed it at Treize. Finally, he smiled, saying, "I feel Nataku with me… Arigatou."

After giving Wufei a dashing smile, Treize turned to Quatre, teal eyes looking up in fearful hope. With a large breath, the older man stated, "All you have to do to get home is rub your slippers together three times and repeat 'I wish I were home' each time." Silence followed as Quatre's eyes widened immensely.

His brow then furrowed in anger. "You mean that I went through all of that – slipping on the silly road, defeating evil witches at your command, numerous head injuries, and much, much more – all THAT when I could have gone home from the beginning?!?!?!" At the end of his speech, tears sat threatening to fall. Then, pointing at each of them, he continued. "I dealt with you (Relena), you (Heero), you (Duo), you (Wufei), you (Treize, Zechs, and company), and…" Quatre then stopped, his finger pointing straight at Trowa's heart.

Tears streamed down his paled face as he looked into those emerald eyes and his hand dropped down to his side. His lip quivered as he said in a barely audible tone, "I don't want to go…" At that moment, Quatre had never felt more vulnerable to the world, and he looked like it. When Trowa opened his arms, the blonde boy dove into them for shelter, burying his face in Trowa's metallic chest. Again, only more loudly, "I don't want to go. I love you so much."

Steel fingers set themselves firmly underneath Quatre's chin, lifting it up so teal eyes could meet emerald ones. Helpless, the Sandrock pilot gazed up at the soft smile that shone down upon him. The lips parted, and Quatre's heart fluttered. "…wake up…"

The dream atmosphere dissipated about the blonde boy as he felt himself being shaken by a pair of hands. "Quatre, wake up." Groggily responding, he opened his eyes only to see Duo's violet ones staring back.

"Finally! You're awake."

Puzzled, Quatre blinked. "What happened?"

"There was some accident in a battle and you hit your head pretty hard. You've been out for a good two days. Scared Trowa-"

The blonde pilot sat up and gasped. "Trowa!"

Duo continued. "Yeah… scared Trowa nearly half to death."

"Where is he?" Panicked eyes turned towards Duo.

With a raised eyebrow, the braided pilot gestured to the door. "He's gettin' some water." He walked over to the door, opened it, and shouted down the hall. "Yo, man, Quatre's awake!"

Quatre kept scared eyes on the door, waiting for Trowa's appearance. When mahagony bangs appeared, the blonde boy's hands clutched at the sheets tighter as a blush appeared on his face. "Trowa…"

Emerald eyes looked searchingly into Quatre's eyes. Trowa crossed the room in great strides. Setting the cup down and sitting at the edge of the smaller boy's bed, Trowa calmly put a hand to Quatre's forehead. "You're not running a fever, are you?"

Quatre's blush deepened as he shook his head slowly and silently. "I… I was just confused."

"Confused?"

Duo looked at the two of them, then quietly left the room, shutting the door.

Quatre nodded, adding, "I had a dream and everyone was in it. I was lost, but I didn't know if I wanted to come home or not. But now, I think that I do prefer home to a dream." He turned a smile up to Trowa. " I like a real Trowa much better than a metallic Trowa."

Green eyes blinked in confusion. Then, Trowa smiled back, petting Quatre's golden hair and a pale cheek softly before handing him the water. "I'm glad you're back."

"Me too."


End file.
